When I wrote my latest novel,
Wait for Me, I had been to a real
coal community only one time. One memorable time. I went home from college with a
friend for a weekend. Her home was in the coal mining region in southern West
Virginia.

We had arrived at my friend’s
home after dark and I did not see any part of the coal community until the next
day. My friend took me to the company store. When we left the store and stood
on the porch, I saw the coal mine’s tipple. An imposing structure towering
above all else around it.

The memory of that tipple
engrained itself deep within my mind. I’ve always had a desire to write a book
about a coal camp, including its tipple. This first book in the West Virginia
Mountains Series is that book.

Using any celebrity, past
or present, whom would you cast as your main characters?

A
young Elizabeth Taylor and a young Montgomery Clift.

Oh, those are two of my favorites! A sneak peek into what
you're working on right now?

Book
2 in the West Virginia Mountains Series. I don’t have a title yet. I usually
pick my titles from a scene or chapter in the book.

If your life were a book,
what would the title be?

Late
Bloomer, But Worth the Wait

Fun! :) If you were in your
heroine’s shoes when the story starts, would you react differently than she?
How so?

Yes,
I would have reacted differently. Julie, in my story, knows what she wants and
won’t stop at anything until she gets it. At her age I was not that decisive
and determined. I was more of an observer of things happening around me instead
of the one causing things to happen.

I love seeing this insight into your character! Now, I'm dying to know, what does your writing space look like?

I
have a heavy executive-style desk in the corner of a bedroom, anchored by a
laptop, printer, lamp, and stacks of paper. It’s the same desk I used at home
when I was in high school.

Wow, that must bring back a lot of memories! What better way to fuel writerly emotions!

What do you do for a fun
break if you find yourself overwhelmed with writing pressures?

I
zone out and read. When I read for pleasure I’m able to turn everything else
off.

Oh, I loved reading that one. Can't beat a sweet historical romance for a good read, right? Thanks so much for being here, Jo. I really enjoyed getting to know the lady behind the craft,and I know everyone else will, too.

Author bio.

Jo Huddleston is a
multi-published author of books, articles, and short stories. Her debut novels
in the Caney Creek Series and her latest book, Wait for Me, are sweet Southern romances. She is a member of ACFW,
the Literary Hall of Fame at Lincoln Memorial University (TN), and holds a
M.Ed. degree from Mississippi State University. Jo lives in the U.S. Southeast
with her husband, near their two grown children and four grandchildren. Visit
Jo at www.johuddleston.com or on her Facebook page.

Book blurb.

Can
Julie, an only child raised with privilege and groomed for high society, and
Robby, a coal miner’s son, escape the binds of their socioeconomic backgrounds?
Set in a coal mining community in West Virginia in the 1950s, can their love
survive their cultural boundaries?

This
is a tragically beautiful love story of a simple yet deep love between two soul
mates, Robby and Julie.The American South’s rigid caste system and her
mother demand that Julie chooses to marry an ambitious young man from a
prominent and suitable family. Julie counters her mother’s stringent social
rules with deception and secrets in order to keep Robby in her life. Can the
couple break the shackles of polite society and spend their lives together?
Will Julie’s mother ever accept Robby?

---------

Jo is generously offering an eBook for Kindle copy of Wait
for Me as a giveaway to one amazing commenter! The winner will be announced this Saturday, the 23rd!

Winner of last week's Surprise Book Giveaway is Library Lady (Janet E.). CONGRATULATIONS, Janet! I'll be in touch with you soon! :)

10 comments:

I don't like to think of the US as having a 'caste' system, but I guess we do to some extent. I just married in April and my husband and I couldn't come from any more different backgrounds! Thankfully my parents love him, and I think we will be great for each other and that will become even more evident as time goes on.

What a perfect setting for a love story complicated by social systems. While I know the South isn't the only part of the country steeped in social divisions, we definitely have our share of uppish folk. Haha!

I love the idea of taking Romeo and Juliet to the 1950s coal mining South. And I trust these characters get a better ending than poor Jules and Romie. Haha!

As a lifelong native of Georgia, there's nothing I enjoy more than southern fiction. Thank you, Jo and Natalie, for an enjoyable interview and giveaway. It's great to learn about your stories, Jo. I hope to read this story soon and help promote it also.

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For Richer or Poorer (Barbour Publishing, July 2017)

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Natalie Monk writes award-winning and ECPA bestselling historical romance. She is currently brainstorming her sixth writing project. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.
A country girl from the time she could shimmy under a string of barbed wire, Natalie makes her home in North Mississippi. She proudly wears the label “preacher’s kid,” is a homeschool graduate, a nonpracticing certified wedding planner, and a former fence post digger. She loves sweet tea, girl talk (usually about books), porch swings, and watching old movies with her family. Her goal in writing, and in living, is to bring glory to her Savior, Jesus Christ.